The present invention relates to a process for the establishment of a connection between an originating communication apparatus and a plurality of apparatus in the form of separate loudspeakers and/or of communication terminal apparatus having loudspeakers, each of which is connected to a program-controlled communication installation. A call-through, that is a group announcement is placed by an operator of the originating communication apparatus simultaneously for this plurality of apparatus the group announcement occurs over each of the activated loudspeakers. The communication installation has apparatus-referred units for signal-type individual switching on of the apparatus. A coupling network (that is, a switching network) for the switching-through of the connection paths and a programmable digital computer system form the central control of the communication installation, with at least one system memory for the storing of program modules and of data. The digital signaling information data is conveyed over a signaling channel and the speech information data is conveyed over a voice channel.
Contemporary digital computer-controlled communication mediation installations permit the use of different communication transmission apparatus. These can differ, therefore, in their connection type and, if need be in the respective dialing processes. Thus, for example, digital subscriber connection component groups are used for the connecting of digital communication transmission apparatus. Analog communication sending apparatus are connected with "analog connection technology". The underlying communication mediation installation consists in principle of a large number of mediation function units and a programmable digital computing system that controls these function units and monitors all the mediation execution. For this purpose the computing system is provided with information data about the operating state of the function units and about state changes, especially about inputs to the connected terminal apparatus. It can, therefore if necessary draw up and issue corresponding control instructions and messages.
Such communication mediation installations, especially telephone auxiliary-exchange installations, are also capable of additional control processes going beyond the mediation process proper. Such additional functions are in general designated as performance features, in which especially for the communication service "speech", a large number of different performance features are known. Such performance features can be initiated either during the mediation process or else during an already existing communication connection. This can occur, for example, by selecting certain characteristic digits, and characteristic digit combination and/or by the actuation of so-called function keys. Such performance features include, for example, acoustic instructions for waiting subscribers, the presentation of user instructions on an optical display arrangement and the direct addressing of a dialed subscriber. For this a subscriber can effectively switch on the loudspeaker at the terminal apparatus of the desired subscriber for hands free operation. It is provided that such an effecting switching of the loudspeaker can also be accomplished by a subscriber on a plurality of connected terminal apparatus. Then over the connections built up by this subscriber there can simultaneously occur a call-through or group announcement to the other selected subscribers. One possible solution is that the connection build-up to the selected apparatus can occur successively. Beginning with the first of the apparatus provided for such a collective call-through after the sending-out of a command information instruction for the effective switching-on of the loudspeaker, the arrival of the return message confirming this switching-on first switches through the connection and the connection to the next apparatus of the apparatus series is built up. After each reception of a return-report from an apparatus, the next connection build-up is brought about in the same manner. This is then continued successively up to the last of the apparatus selected for this initiated call-through operation. In such a conceivable execution the system-conditioned transit times are added up, so that, especially in the case of a large number of apparatus to be addressed, an undesirable great span of time is required before the intended call-through can be effected. Depending on the number of apparatus the waiting time by the person who intends to broadcast a message can be very annoying. Furthermore, such an execution is linked with relatively expensive performance-feature-specific programming procedures, which impact the mediation procedures.